FCT residents seek more toilets to curb open defecation
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Some residents of the FCT and environs have urged governments at all levels to provide more toilet facilities and increase awareness to combat open defecation.
The residents, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, said that more hands were needed to address sanitation and hygiene.
Ms Olajumoke Adeyinka, a resident of Byazhin in Kubwa, said the lack of toilets in business premises and poor maintenance had worsened the problem.
“Some shop owners don’t make their facilities available for clients, forcing people to resort to open spaces.
There should be more sensitisation on why these facilities are necessary in public buildings.
“There should be more toilets in schools, marketplaces, plazas, local bars and bus stops so that people can easily pay and ease themselves when nature calls,” she said.
Mrs. Sarah Audu, another Kubwa resident, decried improper waste disposal, saying some households channel wastewater onto the streets instead of into the drainage system.
She urged local campaigns to discourage such practices.
In Nyanya, Mr. Patrick Adebayo said that many schoolchildren defecate in bushes or uncompleted buildings due to a lack of facilities.
“They usually go outside the school premises to ease themselves.
Where facilities exist, they are unkempt and overstretched, making it difficult to maintain,” he said.
Mr Aliyu Mustapha, a resident of Gidan Mangoro near Karu, linked persistent cases of diarrhoea and typhoid to the practice.
“This practice is causing harm, especially to our children.
If we can get more health and environmental workers to educate our people, it will help a lot,” he said.
Mrs Jamila Ogba, a healthcare worker in the community, stressed that awareness was key to behavioural change.
“We enlighten families and schoolchildren on the dangers of open defecation because they need to know it leads to health challenges.
“Flies from open faeces transfer germs to food and water, causing cholera and dysentery, which we treat here regularly.
“Authorities must continue to reiterate that the practice is offensive and offenders will be prosecuted, or else people may continue to take the issue for granted,” she said.
According to UNICEF and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, about 46 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, making the country the highest in Africa and among the highest globally.
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